Activities without WORK!

Do you find it difficult to do any activities without somehow involving your work? A sense of belonging without working can be difficult in today’s ‘never turn off’ sales cycle. You may even alienate people by constantly talking about your business. Also, people may judge you by your chosen profession instead of who you are.

How often do you do something for fun? Join a club, a church or start a new hobby only to have the first person you see ask what you do for work. Your job or career is such an integral part in your life but does it define you? If you are a used car salesman, do people shy away from you? If you are an insurance agent, is that person’s response to meeting you “I already have insurance…?”

If the barrier is started on the initial introduction you may have to put in some extra work to clear the hurdle. If this is a problem, casually offer an answer but switch to something else happening in the room. The weather is a solid alternative and be up to date on current news and sports scores to offer other talking points. The sooner you overcome, the sooner you can reach a deeper level.

To get to know and understand someone it is important to get a clear picture of who they are as a whole. What is their family like, where did they come from and what they do for fun can offer other ways to bond better than simply careers. Look beyond the ‘what can I sell this person’ or ‘what can I get from them’ mentality. If a connection is made there will always be opportunities to follow up and take your business to the next level